April 20, 2015

AT&T Cloud Calls is Coming to mysms [no longer supported]

Posted in cloud services, mysms news by mysms

[Note: This feature is no longer available due to low number of users]

 
We’re proud to announce that from today we are expanding our call feature for AT&T users to start and receive phone calls directly from your browser via the mysms web app. The new integration will offer you way more convenience in your daily management of your voice conversations especially when you are sitting in front of a computer during the whole day. This feature will be released in beta and is part of mysms Premium.

Make calls without touching your phone

Make calls without touching your phone

AT&T cloud calls at a glance

As web app or desktop app user, you already know how handy it is to get notified on phone calls directly on your computer. With mysms Premium you can also take an incoming call with just one click or start a new call by inserting a contact name or number. However, you still had to talk on your Android phone.

This requirement was by far the most frequent feedback on the call feature among our Premium users. Therefore, we have been working hard to remove the need to take your phone into your hands when calling from a computer.  AT&T is the first carrier to provide us with the necessary APIs to launch this enhancement, but we expect to expand the functionality to other mobile carriers when the APIs are available.

 

Which requirements do I need to fulfill?

Currently, AT&T cloud calls is only available for AT&T users with a postpaid plan. You need to be based in the US and can only call US numbers. International calling is not supported by AT&T. When you start and receive a call via the web app you will be charged in accordance with your existing mobile agreement. As this feature is part of mysms Premium, you need to have an active subscription in order to qualify for this feature.

 

How do I activate AT&T cloud calls?

The AT&T cloud calls feature is currently only available via our web app on your computer (no tablet support).

  • Make sure your microphone and speakers are connected to your computer and switched on.
  • Open the web app via a WebRTC compatible browser (Chrome, Firefox, Opera). In order to use the feature with Internet Explorer or Safari, you need to install a WebRTC plugin to enhance these browsers.
  • Go to the mysms settings via the gearwheel on the top right corner and click on “Connect to AT&T cloud calls (BETA)” and confirm this action in the next popup
  • Congrats, you are all set. In case you would like to deactivate this feature at a later time, simply go back to the mysms settings and click on “Disconnect from AT&T cloud calls (BETA)”.

 

We hope you enjoy calling from your computer and are happy to receive your feedback!

March 31, 2015

Welcome to the Premium family, SMS scheduler and message history!

Posted in mysms news by mysms

mysms Premium got two new family members: Schedule your SMS and access your entire message history. These features should help you to better manage your messages anytime and on any device.

Welcome to the mysms Premium family!

Welcome to the mysms Premium family!

 

mysms Premium consists of a bunch of great features that make texting even more convenient. Currently mysms Premium includes the following features:

 

  • Backup and restore messages
  • Manage calls on your computer or tablet
  • Sync SMS to another phone with mysms mirror
  • Archive texts in Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive or email account
  • Fully export your SMS inbox
  • Fast customer support

 

 

Since the introduction of mysms Premium we have constantly extended our offer to make it even more powerful for you. From now on you have access to two additional Premium features:

 

Schedule your messages

Schedule your messages

  • Schedule messages to send them at a later time
    Have you ever been in this situation? You remind yourself that one of your best friends’ birthday is tomorrow, but you forget to send your birthday wishes on the actual day? This won’t happen anymore, as you can now schedule your messages. Compose a new message and tap on the schedule icon to set an exact date. Your message will be sent at your chosen time in the future.
Access your entire message history

Access your entire message history

  • Access your entire message history
    Are you looking for a specific text message a colleague sent to you a few weeks ago? With this Premium feature you have access to all your messages that are synced to the mysms cloud. If you text a lot, it can be very challenging to search all messages and conversations manually. As Premium user the full-text search will browse through your entire message history.

 

Did you already have the chance to take a look at these new features? In which situations will you use the SMS scheduling feature?

 

If you haven’t activated Premium yet, subscribe to mysms Premium directly in the mysms Android phone app or in the web app.

February 2, 2015

Material Design Has Come To mysms

Posted in mysms news by mysms

Time for a massive redesign – We spent a great deal of time on giving our apps a fresh look. mysms got a new coat of paint and comes with a brand new Material inspired design. A hands on with our updated Android apps.

Our Android apps in the new design

Our Android apps in the new designOur Android apps got a huge redesign

 

With the introduction of Android Lollipop (5.0), Google presented a new design concept for Android apps. Google describes it as a visual language incorporating design principles for user interfaces across platforms (smartphones, tablets, desktop, wearables and TVs). During the last few weeks we were busy implementing the new design and bringing it to our Android phone and tablet apps. So what has changed? Almost everything. Watch the video to get a first impression:

 

 

 

Renewed conversation overview and message view

Conversation and message view in the beautiful new design

Conversation and message view in the beautiful new design

Bold colors, flat elements, clean lines and animations create a fresh user interface. The conversation and message overviews have been updated with a Material Design overhaul. It’s even easier to compose a new message with the replaced “New Message” icon at the bottom of the screen. Moreover, you can directly search for messages and have access to the new settings area.

 

The design of the message view has been wrapped in the latest design standard – the bubbles disappeared and it comes with the fresh Roboto font. Tap on a message to see the message details and open the menu to reveal options like calling the contact or deleting the thread.  Add attachments to your messages and choose your preferred sending channel (SMS/MMS/friends) by longpressing the send button.

 

Gorgeous new contact view

Redesigned contact view

Redesigned contact view

Tap on the avatar or profile pic in the conversation overview to open the beautiful new contact view – the Material Design makes it look fantastic. It includes the picture you saved for this contact (or an avatar) and some other handy options. Also the setting to choose custom notifications (sounds, LED etc.) for each contact has moved to this view.

 

For group chats, a tap on the avatar reveals the view where you can change the group name, add contacts or leave the group. In addition, this view allows you to view contact entries, add contacts to your address book or to send a message to individual contacts.

 

Manage the settings and your account information

The settings have moved to the sidebar

The settings have moved to the sidebarNotifications In Material Design

The settings area got a new structure and also found its way to the Material design – it hides in the sidebar now. We tried to cluster the countless options into a clearer structure. We aimed to make it more intuitive, so even loyal mysms users will get used to it very soon.

 

Stay up to date on your messages

Get notified on incoming messages and calls

Get notified on incoming messages and calls

Under Android 5.0 we use Lollipop’s the heads up notification replace the popup. Please make sure that you define the right notifications for mysms in your Android settings (e.g. regarding priority notifications). For those of you who use a lower Android version, the popup is still available and also has become a new design with some great Material Design elements.

 

Colorful themes to customize your app

Customize the colors of the app

Customize the colors of the app

mysms is not only rocking the standard blue theme, but comes in all themes you already know from the previous version – adapted to the Material Design goodness. When you click on the pencil next to the theme (sidebar – appearance) you can customize the color of nearly every area of the app.

 

With this redesign mysms comes with the absolutely gorgeous Android Lollipop style. We wanted to take a step ahead Google’s radical new design approach. What do you think of our new look?

January 27, 2015

Fine-tune Your Texting Experience With The mysms Chrome Extension

Posted in mysms news by mysms

Google Chrome Extensions are add-ons that allow you to modify and customize your Google Chrome browser. Some extensions add new features to Chrome that make your life easier. So does the brand new mysms Chrome Extension! It helps you to always stay on top of your messages and calls. You will receive notifications, no matter where you are on the web.

Try the brand new mysms Chrome Extension

Try the brand new mysms Chrome Extension

 

The new mysms Chrome Extension is one of the simplest ways to send and receive text messages in your Chrome browser. It is directly connected to your Android phone and notifies you on your incoming messages and calls.

 

What’s new for you?

The installation of the Chrome Extension creates an icon next to the address bar. This icon shows a badge counter as soon as a message or call reaches your phone.

Notifications next to the address bar

Notifications next to the address bar

Additionally the Chrome Extensions comes with a popup that appears when you receive a message or a (missed) call. The popup is super convenient as it lets you directly delete or mark messages as read and you can answer or dismiss a call. (If you do not want to receive this popup, just right-click on it and choose “Disable notifications from mysms”.)

Notifications via the popup

Notifications via the popup

 

How do you get the Extension?

In the Chrome Web Store you will find the mysms Chrome Extension for download. Regular web app users will recognize the interface. Please use your existing mysms account (or the Google Account you used for the registration) for the login.

 

Are you new to mysms?

mysms uses your existing Android phone number to send and receive messages and syncs your existing contacts and SMS from your Android phone to your Chrome browser.

 

Therefore, please download mysms on your Android phone first and register for a new account. You can use this account to log in to the mysms Chrome Extension. As texts from Chrome are sent via your Android, your phone needs to be on and must be connected to the internet (mobile data connection or WiFi).

 

Why should you use mysms in your browser?

Get access to your messages from your phone and benefit from a larger keyboard while you are working on your computer. You can read and reply to your messages or start a new conversation in your browser, without even touching your phone.

 

But it’s not only an easy and fast way to send and receive SMS/MMS. It’s also great for being up to date on your calls. You’ll receive alerts when a call reaches your phone and you can access your entire call log from your phone. mysms Premium users have access to even more call features.

 

 

Please keep in mind that the mysms Chrome Extension is currently in beta. If you have any feedback for us, please get in touch at http://support.mysms.com.

January 20, 2015

This was 2014 for mysms

Posted in mysms news by mysms

The new year is already in full swing, but we gladly look back at 2014. We are proud that so many people share our passion for convenient texting from any device. So what has changed during the last year? How did we improve our apps?

mysms is available for every major platform

Looking back on 2014

Features, improvements and other cool stuff

At this point thanks to our supporting users who share their opinion and suggest ideas. We took your thoughts in mind and extended our apps with new features to make our service even more awesome.

These features demonstrate the biggest changes:

MMS support and MMS group chat

MMS and group MMS messaging

MMS and group MMS messaging

Share your pics and chat with friends! Especially for our users in the US, we integrated the MMS feature. Attachments can now be shared easily via MMS and you can even communicate with multiple contacts in an MMS group chat.

 

It’s our goal to further improve our MMS feature. If you are interested in participating in our beta test, please join our Google+ community.

Android 4.4

mysms and Android 4.4

mysms and Android 4.4

It’s your choice! With the release of Android 4.4, Google introduced the concept of one SMS app. Even if you prefer to use another SMS app on your phone, we modified our apps so you can still send & receive texts on any device. Please don’t forget that there are some differences though, if mysms only runs in the background.

GPS Location Sharing

Share your location

Share your location

Show your friends where you are! We added a mysms plugin to the Google Play Store which allows you to share your current or any other location with your contacts. To use this feature within the mysms app, you need to download the plugin.

Themes

Customize your mysms app

Customize your mysms app

Customization is great! We provided several cool themes already but wanted to give you the choice to edit our app to your preferences. Therefore, we added a theming option that allows you to change the color of nearly every single part of the app – bubbles, header, text and much more. Did you try it already?

 

We’re still collecting your suggestions and votes for existing ideas. As you might have already noticed we moved our support and ideas platform. You can now reach us at http://support.mysms.com.

 

Introduction of mysms Premium

mysms Premium

mysms Premium

In the last quarter of 2014 we officially rolled out mysms Premium, which ensures the further development of our apps. We tied a package that includes six different features:

 

We’re planning to extend our Premium offer. More new features are coming this year!  If you are interested in mysms Premium, you can subscribe directly via the Android phone app or the web app.

 

We’re very exciting about what’s coming up next. Are you excited too? Stay tuned here and on our Social Media Channels to get the latest mysms news. Follow mysms on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.